JUL 15-- (Portland)– DEA Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Arnold R. Moorin and the United States Attorney for the District of Oregon, Karin J. Immergut, announced that Luis Sandoval-Arellano, 35, a Mexican National was sentenced on July 7, 2008 to 120 months imprisonment for Conspiracy to Manufacture More than One Thousand Marijuana Plants.

On May 28, 2007, while two Oregon State Police Troopers were investigating an illegal hunting complaint, they observed an unusual rock in the road marking a trail into the woods. As officer’s followed the trail, they located Sandoval-Arellano and another man who fled. Initially, Sandoval-Arellano claimed he was in the woods hunting for turkeys with a Glock handgun. The troopers then followed Sandoval-Arellano’s boot prints back along a trail which led to an outdoor marijuana grow that contained more than 7,000 plants.

Sandoval-Arellano and others involved with this large-scale marijuana grow, damaged public lands and water sources in the process of establishing and maintaining the marijuana plants for their personal gain. Additionally, they posed an armed threat to hikers or other citizens present on the public lands.

The success of this investigation should be credited to the following agencies: The Drug Enforcement Administration, Oregon State Police, Mid-Columbia Interagency Narcotics Team, and the United States Forest Service.